Fluorescence methods for matter interferometry with nanosized objects

Abstract

Three different fluorescence detection methods for matter interferometry are explored in the paper. Firstly, molecules can be detected in free flight, when the dilute particle beam is excited by intense laser light. The emitted fluorescent light is collected by a sensitive CCD camera. Secondly, for molecules up to about 1000 amu the molecular interference pattern, with a fringe period of about 1/spl mu/m, can be directly adsorbed on a surface and read out using high-resolution fluorescence microscopy. A third and novel detection scheme combines the high spatial resolution of Talbot Lau interferometry with the high detection efficiency of surface adsorbed fluorophores.